Article excerpt

The nickname that most people use for the young Lancashire and England cricketer Andrew Flintoff is Freddie. I call him Flinty. Whenever he walks in to bat or the captain gives him the ball to bowl, a frisson runs through the entire ground. With him in action, every single spectator expects something extraordinary to happen and, during the current Test series against the West Indies, it almost invariably does. This is a very rare phenomenon in the world of cricket.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Only recently, organisers of the game were lamenting the absence of huge crowds at Test matches. The five-day match, it was thought, was too long for most potential audiences. Flinty has transformed all that. I went to Edgbaston in Birmingham last month for the third day of the second Test, where I was interviewed on BBC Radio's Test Match Special. The ground was packed to capacity, as it was throughout the match.

When Flinty came on to bowl, you could see, with the naked eye, the physical readjustments of spectators in their seats. Brian Lara, the greatest batsman of modern times, was facing him and looked set for another century. But Flinty dismissed him on 95. He has now got him out several times, including twice, for very low scores, in the third Test at Old Trafford in Manchester. …

Evaluating Recent Developments in the Governance and Regulation of South African Sport: Some Thoughts and Concerns for the FutureLouw, Andre M..
The International Sports Law Journal, No. 1-2, January-April 2006

Cricket: RISING TO A CHALLENGE; He's the Heart of the England Team, the Most Popular Cricketer of His Generation. Chris Pryke Spoke to AndrewFlintoff about Life on and off the FieldPryke, Chris.
The Birmingham Post (England), July 17, 2004

Flintoff Proves He IS a Fighter ; It Might Not Have Been Pretty, but Cricketer Turned Boxer Freddie Has 100per Cent Record in the Ring after Victorious DebutRingside View Chris Ostick Follow Chris on Twitter @Lancscricketmen.
Manchester Evening News, December 1, 2012

Why England Have Sent for Super Fred; Mind the Windows, Freddie: Adam Gilchrist Looks on as AndrewFlintoff Smashes the Ball towards the Boundary during the AshesLloyd, David.
The Evening Standard (London, England), July 16, 2008